A new crew of attorneys will take over a LoDo law office noted for its art gallery and penthouse views after its original tenant lost three-quarters of its partners in the past year.
On July 1, Akerman, a Miami-based transactions and trial law firm, will assume the lease for a 24,000-square-foot office at 1900 16th St. currently home to Reilly Pozner.
“(Denver) sort of straddles a number of different industries,” said Justin Balser, managing partner of the firm’s Denver office. “It’s got a very heavy focus on the technology market and real estate is growing.”
Balser also noted that Denver is a useful hub to access the Midwest and West Coast.
The move will give Akerman 10,000 square feet more than what it currently leases at 1400 Wewatta St. Chad Rupp of Franklin Street found the space, which Balser said was not marketed publicly, for Akerman. Rupp said Reilly Pozner will occupy the space until June and Akerman will lease the space directly from the landlord, as opposed to subleasing.
Akerman plans to move by year-end, he said, when its lease ends on Wewatta Street.
The firm hopes to add 10 more attorneys plus support staff in the next two years, Balser said, and will have room for 25 lawyers and patent professionals at its new office.
Balser said Akerman’s Denver office is split between its consumer financial services practice and its intellectual property practice. Last summer, it named Howard Gelt as a real estate partner.
Meanwhile, Reilly Pozner’s website shows the firm has lost nine of 12 partners since last spring.
Two former partners sued in March, alleging they were let go so that named partners Dan Reilly and Larry Pozner could use a nine-figure jury verdict to bankroll their retirement plans instead of splitting the cash between more partners.
Reilly Pozner was the first tenant at 1900 16th St. when it moved from the Kittredge building at 511 16th St. in 2010, according to research published that year by JLL, a commercial real estate firm.
The firm’s art collection, including the 20-by-9-foot billboard for Disney’s “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves,” graced its 16th Street office walls, according to Law Week Colorado. And pictures taken from its windows show mountain views.
Neither Reilly nor Pozner returned messages from BusinessDen seeking comment.
